On Friday 21 June, the French Finance Minister, Bruno Le Maire, explained why the European Commission has just proposed that the Council of the European Union place France, along with six other Member States, under the excessive deficit procedure (see EUROPE 13435/1).
“We did a lot to protect the French economy and French households during the Covid-19 crisis and inflation. The result is that we are the first country in the eurozone to have returned to its pre-crisis level of activity. We have had to pay the price for that. This explains the excessive deficit procedure”, said the minister, who may have been attending his last meeting of the ‘Ecofin’ Council as a result of the early parliamentary elections called by French President Emmanuel Macron.
In Mr Le Maire’s opinion, “we now need to get the public accounts back in order to regain some room for manoeuvre”. He mentioned the ten billion euros in savings announced for 2024 and the abolition of emergency aid on electricity and gas tariffs in order to bring the French deficit (which was 5.5% in 2023) below the 3% threshold in 2027 (see EUROPE 13401/23).
The minister also pointed out that the European Commission had finalised the procedure for identifying macroeconomic imbalances in France. “This means that in terms of public finances, there is work to be done, but that in terms of growth, jobs and prosperity, the European Commission welcomes France’s results”, he said.
On Monday 15 July, the Eurogroup will adopt a statement on budgetary policy with a view to preparing the draft budget plans for 2025. (Original version in French by Mathieu Bion)